Tell them to let their marketing team in on that little secret... http://youtu.be/u_4QxZHZb8Y http://youtu.be/7dK77xk6vYU
Looking forward to it. That will make 2 I know of. I am suspicious of Snowy's frame, as I have never heard of anyone else bending Indy Unlimited's brace. So maybe it is 3. That is a far cry from of the all the frames can be bent. Well Duh!!!. I don't doubt your word, but why no mention before? A few days ago you had positive comments about the bike and plans to improve the suspension.
And to my earlier point, I am really really really curious as to the shock being used as I really really really firmly believe the stock suspension, or innadequate suspension is playing a huge part of this. Was the suspension bottoming out when this bad stuff happened? If it was and you keep doing it, the bad stuff will happen, I don't care what bike you're on, something is going to break eventually, the more weight you carry, the faster it happens.
So what does the Indy kit actually do? Is it just high misalignment style bushings that reduce the gap between the shock tabs? I'll have mine apart soon to do some suspension work, and am curious. If the only problem is the span of the shock tabs, that can be a realitivley easy fix by just welding in a support behind the tabs, I would guess. Of course, that would be an option for you out of warranty guys. There isn't a brace from RM or Indy for the 2013+, so I'll be curious to see if the design was changed, or why the old kits and braces won't work. Either way, this isn't as catastrophic as it can be. It's just steel, it can be fixed if bent. Or even modified to not bend so easy.
I have repeatedly said, it you ride it like a dirt bike you need to toughen it up. The suspension is soft, the forks suck and the rear mount is suspect. I have dealt with all those issues. Still very few riders have bent a bolt and fewer yet have bent the frame. What irks me is leaving the impression that they all do that. It is not true. If the bolt is not torqued to spec or if the alignment of the bushings don't have full contact with one another and the frame tabs, the design is weakened further. I am anxious to see the bolt. If it resembles a horseshoe, plus bending the cross member, I don't think that happens all of sudden. JRose: As you know the span between the tabs is wider than the bushing in the shock. The gap is filled with another bushing. They are held in compression with the shock bolt. The amount of compression is crucial to the design. It is imperative the bushings and frames tabs all meet evenly. Any gaps can the allow the bolt to bend. In prior horse beatings there was a question whether the bolts hit bottom of the end piece and gave false torque readings. If you have any gaps between the bushings and tabs when torqued up, put a washer between the bolt head and the frame and do it over. Aftermarket shocks have 2 aluminum end bushings and a center bearing. Now you have 4 things to hold in compression. The Rally Moto is a brace that sort of hooks over the filler bushing in the stock design and is bolted to the frame. I have that because I am still running the stock shock with a heavier spring. It should keep the bolt from bending upwards. I haven't bent one yet but I am not convinced it is the answer. Indy Unlimited's brace is a one piece hardened steel bushing that replaces all the bushings in the aftermarket shock plus the filler bushing. It accommodates the stock bolt. They are custom made but most aftermarket shocks have a 20mm diameter in the top mount. It relies more on its physical size and strength more than compression.
I'm not saying the bike is awful by any means, i like my bike very much. im just letting the guy know that if he plans on pushing it like you can a drz or klr, that the bike is not gonna take it so well. I'm still doing the suspension upgrade, too. Hell, I'm WELDING on the frame of my bmw with 5000 miles on odo. I'd say from here on out, the modification gate is wide open.
One more post and I am done, I promise I do think it is possible to bend a bolt without bottoming the shock. There was a post from a rider who claimed to have done that on Saline Valley Rd. It is 30 miles of washboard. After I fixed the forks, I noticed the shock wasn't all that great either. Hit something hard and it would spike. My term for hydraulic lock. Do it repeatedly and I can see how the hammering would bend a bolt. Let it go long enough and I suppose it is possible to bend the cross member. Springs: I still have my old Hyper Pro rear spring. The spring weight is heavy enough that I run very little preload. The spiking is still there but not as bad nor as often. I think that is better than running a stock spring with a lot of preload. If you do that, it takes more force to initially move the suspension plus you run a greater risk of bottoming it. That impact force has to go somewhere.
I'm running the Wilbur's fully adjustable, just about any of them out there would be awesome though. If you look at shocks, do NOT go with anything that's an emulsifier unit (meaning they don't have compression adjustment) it it doesn't have a comp adjustment or remote reservoir, walk away. Here are you're options: Wilburs HyperPro Yacugar (It's a Hyperpro unit, different colors) Touratech Ohlin's has a new one that's fully adjustable now I believe. Elka
Ok so racetech is out, they don't make a shock for the gs that has compression adj. ohlins and Wilber's are out because I need my shock to have 20 mm more stroke to match front and they won't build it. I called hyperpro, and they can build one no problem. So it's essentially a long travel shock with remote res, high/low speed comp, rebound, and hydraulic preload. The problem with all these ready made shocks is they don't take into account that 100% of the fuel weight is above the rear shock, not near the front like most most motorcycles. So when that 30 lbs is not taken into account, the valve stack is already in wrong range before you even install into the bike.
When they build your shock, they should be asking how much rider weight, how much gear etc. Remote preload adjustment definitely helps out for change in weight, nobody has a shock that accounts for that in valving. Just like when I road raced, as fuel load decreased the front would start acting different towards the end of the race, you just learn how to ride around it.
Ok just got a call from yacugar suspension. I will be going with them, no question about it. They know there stuff. The list of questions they ask before sending the order to Europe is huge, about a page and a half. The company was started by the wp suspensions engineer who came up with the high/low compression adjusting system. The shocks are steel tubed, not aluminum like the others. 5 year no question warranty, with all work being done in USA. 100% rebuildable. Remote preload and remote res. 1.5 inches more travel at rear wheel. 1200 bucks not including shipping from nj, not Europe. 4 week lead time, they will build with 300 dollars down. I'm so happy I wanna do a backflip
Why would they fix the shock mount if it has been like that since the first year of the bike? They didn't fix it in the '13 facelift, I'm 100% sure MY 14 will be the same. But, to me, that was the least of my concerns with the bike, the aftermarket can take care of that.
Did they not address it? The RM brace and Indy Kit doesn't fit my '13. I'll have mine apart in a few weeks.